A look into the soul of Aaron Perlut – Nuclear Mustachologist at Elasticity

We hope you’ve been enjoying our series on hiring an agency partner, social media and everything that could be categorized as rich and compelling stuff.  The questions for this three part Q&A with Brian Cross, Dan Callahan and Aaron Perlut came from SocialTrackr and Marketing Charts posts on hiring an agency and social media experience.

I bribed the final partner in the Elasticity Triumvirate with 10 pounds of bacon in order to go last in the series.  Being a man of great humility and a baconologist, he acquiesced.  Hold onto your bathrobes, an interview on Friday is never predictable.

How much of a campaign budget should go to digital?

Aaron Perlut, Chief Nuclear Mustache Grooming Specialist: Much of it depends on the specific target audience and their consumption of media.  A campaign for the Metamucil brand might be heavy on traditional media.  A campaign on Hispanic men might be purely mobile.  A campaign for 22-year-old women might target more social channels.  But there always needs to be balance between the varying mediums and the message must be consistent.

Has any of your digital work been leveraged for use in any medium such as print or broadcast?

Aaron: Yes. Generally when we develop a program, we build the creative backdrop first. Then we take that creative backdrop and lay out the channels, as well as the applications in those channels, for that creative approach. People’s attention spans are limited so we need to surround them with the same messages in multiple channels.

What is your philosophy on matching the appropriate technology to a campaign idea?

Aaron: Clearly you cannot create cookie cutter campaigns. They must be specific to the target demographic and the media consumption habits they demonstrate.

What has been your biggest viral marketing success story?

Aaron: Herpes……Oh, you said viRAL and not viRUS.  (Author note:  Yes, he really did say that.  It’s ok, he’s a creative genius.) Let me see here. The American Mustache Institute would have to be the one, especially when we used it as a medium for Quicken Online in 2009.

Who will create content? Can you share some samples of content creativity you have shown in the past?

Aaron:  My favorite one is an idea that got left on the cutting room floor. A pool manufacturer wanted to reach end-consumers, as opposed to pool and home builders, as a down economy meant fewer new pools and more upgrades. So we developed a “Pity the Pool” campaign around Mr. T who would show up in people’s back yards and verbally dress homeowners down for not having up-to-date pools.

Will you be able to transcend the messages on social media to connect to my brand?

Aaron: I am transcending to you now. Buy my product.

Fin.

^*Main Entry: ¹elas·tic
Pronunciation: \i-ˈlas-tik\
Function: adjective
a : capable of ready change or easy expansion or contraction : not rigid or constricted <an elastic concept> b : receptive to new ideas : adaptable <an elastic mind>